An early fan of Iggy Pop, the Gun Club, and his favorite, Joy Division, Lanegan found a desperate release in music, particularly songs shaded in darkness with beauty creeping in through the cracks. By his own admission, at age 12, Lanegan was “a compulsive gambler, a fledgling alcoholic, a thief, a porno fiend.” Before 20, he had amassed a significant criminal record that included breaking and entering, shoplifting, drug possession, vandalism, insurance fraud, and 26 counts of underage drinking. As immortalized in his harrowing warts-and-all memoir Sing Backwards and Weep, could the man who had cheated death numerous times, be it from intravenous drug infection, myriad addictions (Lanegan credits heroin for saving him from chronic alcoholism), or a COVID-induced coma, really be gone? As tributes poured in, fans, fellow musicians, and celebrity admirers mourned a songwriter whose sandpaper baritone had gotten them through the hard times, along with an almost mythical figure that continues to loom large over the lives he touched.īorn to an abusive mother and kindly schoolteacher father who could never control his son, the Screaming Trees front man spent his formative years in the logging town of Ellensburg, Washington, wreaking underage havoc. When Mark Lanegan died on February 22, at the family home of actor and friend Donal Logue in Killarney, Ireland, shock and disbelief hit not only the music community, but Lanegan’s friends and collaborators. Music’s dark prince as remembered by his friends and collaborators. As previously reported, the artist will be heard on The Afghan Whigs’ upcoming album, How Do You Burn?, which is out on September 9 through Royal Cream/BMG. In that same interview, Mark Lanegan said he was demo-ing songs for his next solo album, the status of which is unknown. Because we did the bulk of it right in the midst of the pandemic, when things were getting crazy in Los Angeles and I was getting, uh, too close to the sun.” Skeleton Joe, “more than any other record I’ve ever made, it totally has the feel of a time and a place for me. Lanegan died on February 22 at the age of 57 from as-yet-unannounced causes. While cutting it, we knew it was going to be the last visual for this collection. “It was really important to me to try to put my love for Mark into this film. “They say when you go, your life flashes before your eyes,” says Cardamone. These vibrant scenes are juxtaposed with imagery from throughout Lanegan’s life and career, including a 2019 video for his solo song “Stitch It Up” featuring the ‘90s-era MTV character Jimmy the Cabdriver (Donal Logue, a longtime friend who encouraged Lanegan to move from Los Angeles to Ireland). The footage we ended shooting is the last footage of Mark as far as I know.” I had always hoped to do some kind of visual for ‘Hiraeth,’ but we were almost out of time at this point and just hanging out took priority. We walked and talked through the wood for several hours and broke out the camera at the very end. On the last day, we all decided to visit a side of the lake that Mark had yet to explore. “He looked so genuinely happy there - more so than maybe I ever saw in Los Angeles.

“This was a chance to spend time together and for Mark to show me his new hometown,” Cardamone reflects. The haunting video was shot in October 2021 near Lanegan’s adopted home base of Killarney, Ireland, after he had recovered from a near-fatal bout with COVID-19 that temporarily left him in a coma.

Nothing guarded. No damage involved. Truly one of the most moving pieces of music I have ever been a part of.” Are you sure you don’t want to keep it for yourself?’ I told him I had definitely thought about it but in the end I wanted him to have it. After he laid down his vocal, I knew it was the right call. His lyrics and melody on this cut in particular really moved me and in a way became the centerpiece to the album. It’s a song that is just filled with unfiltered love. “The rough definition of ‘hiraeth’ is something like nostalgia or strong longing for a life, place or time, one that may have never even existed,” Cardamone tells SPIN of the Welsh word, for which there is no direct English translation. “When I was sending Mark batches of instrumentals for what was to become our album, ‘Hiraeth’ in particular stopped him. We were listening in the studio and after it was done playing he said, ‘It’s beautiful, bro. What is believed to be the last footage of Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan filmed before his death in February is spotlighted in a new video for the mournful song “Hireath,” which is drawn from Lanegan’s 2021 collaborative project with former Icarus Line frontman Joe Cardamone, Dark Mark Vs.

Mark lanegan dark mark vs skeleton joe